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Tuesday, March 4, 2014

A Healed Man's Guide in Sick Living


I have been physically ill for 5 days yet completely transformed for almost 15 years.  I don't get sick often, and when I do I am almost always healed within 24 hours.  I went through something over the past 5 days that I would typically keep to myself because I don't believe in glorifying the enemies work, but God spoke to me about how I can encourage others that are going through a difficult time.  I hope you enjoy and are encouraged.

I hate sickness.  Sickness ruined some of the best parts of my childhood.  My mom was sick for 5 years when she battled cancer.  My Grandma battled depression and mental issues so we saw a roller coaster of problems from an early age.  My family wasn't anti-doctor but we didn't see him much.  Like most, we had at-home remedies that worked for most illnesses.  I continued to see sickness when I lost my aunt to cancer and then my uncle shortly after.  Did I mention I hate sickness?  

I love healing.  I experienced healing for the first time when I was 11 years old.  I had warts all over my hands and some on my other parts of my body.  I went to the doctor for help and instead of freezing them off they gave me a medicine and a grinding pad.  My job was to grind down the warts every day and put the medicine on top.  I was so self-conscious that I would grind at them until they bled and put the medicine on them while in tears.  

One night my sister went to a new church in town called "Abundant Life."  My mom didn't like it since there were articles in the paper about it being a cult.  I had gone to the Lutheran church and established good principles and believe Jesus loved me but nothing more.  

My sister came home one night after church and heard me crying about my hands and warts.  My hands hurt so bad that I was struggling to switch to the other hand after grinding on it.  So, she sat in front of me and helped.  She took my hands and put the medicine on (like I did every night) and did one thing under her breath that I don't think I was aware of, she prayed.  

When I woke up in the morning my warts were gone.  Not just the ones on my hands I was treating so I could confidently give my friends high-fives, the ones on my arms too.  They were all gone.  As I am typing this I can still see faint scares from the warts.  They are like the symbol of the rainbow to me; they remind me of God's goodness, compassion, and healing power for his Children.

Shortly after, my mom passed away.  The last 6 months before she passed were awful.  She had no energy and she was typically a very active person.  Her body was so frail from the treatments that she couldn't be touched without bruising.  On my 12th birthday she crawled out to the couch crying so she could laid on the couch for my birthday.  I think part of the tears were her realizing it was her last birthday with me. She died 9 days later.

Did I mention I hate sickness?  The next year my dad married a wonderful woman, Mary Martz.  She started taking us to a church called Oasis in 2000.  

Going to Oasis changed everything for me.  I started to learn that God was a good God.  I finally started hearing people say that God didn’t want my mom to die.  This was news since one year earlier I heard all about “God’s Sovereign Will” and how God needed my mom more than my sister and I did.  What they were teaching made sense to my heart since I never agreed or embraced the other concept.  I didn't embrace it because my mom crawled to my bed a few nights before she passed away and laid next to me crying telling me that she was going to die.  After she left I prayed a confused prayer to God and He replied with a physical hug that I could feel and when I asked why He thinks that it is best that my mom had to die He told me that He didn't want that.  I don't think I was mature enough to hear more.  At 11 or 12 that is often times all you need to hear.

I really started to learn about healing when I was 15 and Lucas Miles became my youth pastor.  He taught us about Biblical healing and how to pray for people.  This lined up with my hearts direction and the belief system I had already established.  We started praying for people and seeing them healed.  We went on a trip to Mexico and I saw some awesome things.  One story that sticks out to me was a man I saw walking on the street.  He was walking with a cane and had a major limp.  You could tell his one leg was a lot shorter than the other.  We asked him to talk to us and through the interpreter we learned that he broke his leg 8 years before and didn't have the money to get it taken care of.  God told me that his leg had to come out and grow.  So, we talked to the man about God, he decided that God could do it and we prayed for him.  After a short prayer the man stood up and walked away without a limp and without his cane.  Glory to God.  We saw things like this over and over.

I have personally experienced healing in my life physically, emotionally, and spiritually hundreds or even thousands of times.  When someone in my family is sick, we pray for them and they are healed.  We expect it and we thank God for providing it through the cross.

I started to get sick Wednesday February 26th and thought it was because of some sleeping issues I have been having.  However, I work up Thursday morning to some serious issues.  My throat hurt, my body hurt, and I had a fever.  I started praying immediately.  I did everything I ever do.  I prayed, I ate the right things, I spoke in tongues, I listened to teachings, I asked Britt to pray for me, I spoke certain ways, I listened to worship music, I walked out my healing, etc.  Over the span of 2 days I listened to over 10 hours of teaching.  I slept for 25+ hours.  When I ate, I at the right foods.  When I spoke, I spoke to Jesus.  I did all the stuff I have ever done when I experience healing.  It wasn't happening.

When I woke up even sicker on Friday I was in shock.  Very rarely do I get worst.  90% of the time I am healed overnight (because that is what my faith expects even though instantaneous healing is biblical).  Britt had a very busy day.  She had to go to work all day and babysit at night.  I was set on getting some work done and getting well.  Half way through the day I realized that I needed to start acting healed and get out the house.  Somehow I drove to get a sub and get my suit at the drycleaner.  I came home and was completely out of energy.  I fell asleep and woke up a few hours later.  When I woke up my throat was so swollen that I could barely swallow.  I was still tired but I said to myself "If I go back to sleep and don't get up my throat is going to close and I am going to die."  I know there are people that have been through a lot that can tell me about suffering, but this was the worst I had ever been.  I went downstairs and decided I would read the bible until I got well.  At this point my throat was nearly closed, I hadn't eat much in 2 days, I was dizzy, my body was so sore I could barely move, I had a fever with cold sweats, congestion in my nose, and I could feel pressure in my ear like I was getting an ear infection. I decided that if I prayed for the congestion to go and my throat soreness to go that everything else would get better.  My nose congestion left almost immediately after I prayed for it and my throat pain left a few hours after reading the bible and praying.  I then decided I would praise God for what He had done.  I listened to two worship songs and by the end of the second song I could feel something go from my right ear down into the right side of my throat and make my throat unbelievably sore again when I swallowed or drank anything. So, I was back on the couch.  I decided I was going to the doctor but Britt was gone the rest of the night.  

So, Saturday morning I went to the immediate care in South bend.  After 2 hours of waiting with every sick person in south bend, the nurse called me back.  I thought, here's another chance to get healed and show the doctor’s office what God can do.  In the back of my mind I was thinking "I'm so ready to get some medicine and be done with this crap."  The nurse listened to about half the stuff I was having issue with and did a strep test.  The doctor came in 15 minutes later and asked me what was going on.  I told him 2-3 things and he did the doctor thing.  When he finally looked in my mouth he looked for 2 seconds had me close it and he started laughing.  He said I had a serious bacterial infection in my throat (strep throat), double ear infection, and influenza.  He gave me a laundry list of medicines to take.  I looked at the list like I do at the Word of God.  I thought "here is an easy way to buy my healing."  

I haven't taken medicine for anything in a very long time.  At least a decade.  I was under the impression that this medicine would cure me like God does when I receive His healing that was purchased for me on the cross.  So, my $100 purchase at CVS for medicine is equal to God’s purchase on the cross…  

Much like being saved, healing isn't meant to be an ongoing thing.  It is a decision and receiving.  That's why it is in the word "sozo" which is the Greek word for salvation, saved, etc.

When I took the medicine I had a smile on my face because I was expecting to be able to go out that night to Politos for pizza.  Not so fast my friend (Lee Corso), I felt exactly the same.  In fact, my ear infection got worse.  After two days of taking the medicine I have gradually gotten better.  I can walk, I don't have fever, I can stay awake, but other than that it certainly didn't cure me.  

I still hate sickness and I know there are very few that are willing to read this far.  Being a marketer, it is difficult to give the key points I wanted to get across at the bottom, but here goes:  

1. God has been teaching me that there are things in this world that hurt us.  God told me a while ago that I shouldn't drink pop.  This last week God specially told me that drinking pop is like drinking poison for my body.  I'm not going to drink pop anymore.  Well, I will drink it as much as anyone is okay consuming poison.   Relate this to Paul talking to Timothy in 1 Tim. 5:23.  Tim was having stomach issues.  Paul used wisdom and the Holy Spirit to find out that the water of the area was what and causing the issues.  So, paul told tim drink some wine every now and again and it will fix your issue.  Why?  The water was bad and the wine has stuff in it that will kill the bad stuff that was in the water.  Is paul saying we should only drink wine?  No, I’m sure some people should never drink wine.  That’s why the letter is to timothy and not you.  However, there are some things that you drink/eat/say/think/do that need to be replaced or followed by something else so you don’t have to be continually going to Jesus for healing.  I think about brother hagin about this.  Bro Hagin once said that he stopped drinking coffee or tea (I don’t remember which) because God told him to.  Brother hagin knew about healing and had one of the greatest healing ministries in North America.  However, he also understood wisdom.  Listening to God and your body is wisdom.

2. I refuse to let hate, anger, anxiety, stress, etc. into my life.  I do live this out by using wisdom to stay out of difficult situations and letting the love of Christ work in my heart.  Love never fails.  I saw a sports related documentary where a young kid was abducted by his karate coach and raped after flying him to California.  They found him and brought this young boy back.  The boy’s dad found out what really happened and when the guilty man was being transferred through the airport the young boy’s father shot the man in the head and killed him.  They interviewed the man 30 years later and asked him if he felt remorse.  The man responded and said "if they dig him up I'll shoot him in the head again."  The man was now crippled and almost completely lost his ability to speak.  There is biblical evidence that this anger and hatred that goes unforgiven causes the physical illnesses that this man was experiencing.  I try to not hate anything or anyone.  I don't even hate the New England Patriots after everything they've done to my Miami Dolphins :).  I'm still working on the Jets. :)

3. Never stop believing.  I'm glad that I went through this medicine process because I have learned that medicine isn't always a quick fix.  It is a support that people should take when needed to support their faith, add longevity to their life, and show their loved-ones they care about their future.  Mixing it with faith can be a powerful thing, but learning faith before it is too late is essential.  Paul explains in Hebrews 11 that many die without seeing what they believed for, but there is no reason to not believe.  Believing (faith) is what makes us different from the world.  It's what reminds us that we aren't God, but He loves us and wants His best for us.  He isn't holding back from us, and we can continue to expect his goodness to happen in our lives.

Ryan


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